@Service and @Controller on one class

[walec51]

Hi,

I would like to build a REST API for my services in Spring.
I don't see any need for additional layer of controller classes.
I would just like to remote those services in a REST API by marking my @Service class with an @Controller annotation and adding proper annotations to methods from String MVC.

The question is: em I doing it wrong ?

will this still be treated as an service to which I can add transactional and aspect orientated features ?

[Marten Deinum]

Transactions or any other aspect oriented feature doesn't depend on @Service it can be on anything...

I still would go with an additional integration layer the (@Controller annotated classed) ... Just for the sake of clarity and design. A class should have only one reason to change and now you are mixing 2 different things (business and integration/translation) into a single layer. However that is just me...

Again there is nothing preventing you from putting a @Controller on there and also an @Transactional nothing is bound to either @Service or any other annotation.

[walec51]

Thanks for the replay.

But I wonder from a design point of view would an additional layer add any value if I treat the MVC annotations in this case only as a remoting option.
Other remoting options in Spring (HTTP invoker, Hessian, etc.) don't encourage an additional layer as I recall.

PS. Of course I have an additional controller layer for the applications web GUI and presentation.

[Marten Deinum]

Other remoting options in Spring (HTTP invoker, Hessian, etc.) don't encourage an additional layer as I recall.

Not explicitly howewver there is one automatically generated for you. So there still is a layer in the other spring remoting implementations that convert from the specific implementation (RMI, hessian, burlap) to your own implementation (actually only a RemoteInvocation is being transfered which contains all the information).

Note you might want to look at Spring Data Rest which does more or less the same for repositories.

[walec51]

Looked into Spring Remoting but nothing seamed to fit my requirements.
However I also found Apache CXF on the net and it seams to do exactly what I want with little effort. I can expose a HTTP/JSON API for C# and JavaScript developers using the simple JAX-WS annotations. The whole API is generated on a CoC basis but its ok for me. And its well integrated with Spring.

[Marten Deinum]

Why did you look at Spring Remoting? I mentioned Spring Data Rest not Spring Remoting?!

[walec51]

Why did you look at Spring Remoting? I mentioned Spring Data Rest not Spring Remoting?!

Yes. I looked on both.

I think I expressed my self incorrectly in my first post. What I really meant by a REST API is a HTTP/JSON service-orientated API.